China and EC sign timber deal
18 February 2009The Chinese government has signed an agreement with the European Commission (EC) to deal with issues of verifying legally sourced timber and improving supply chain transparency.
According to the International Tropical Timber Organisation’s latest market report, the EU-China bilateral co-ordination mechanism on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance is expected to encourage the development of shared approaches to timber legality verification.
The agreement was signed by Zhu Lieke, vice-minister of the Chinese State Forest Administration and Commissioner Dimas of the EC. It is likely that the systems established by countries negotiating FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements with the EU will feature highly.
